Looking Back On 2010

by Darrin DeRoches December 23 - 29, 2010

The end of the year is a week away, so it’s time to look back on 2010 and see how we did in the real estate market.  The December numbers will not be tallied up until next year, but if we look at the overall sales for the Hamilton–Burlington real estate market, the total sales are 2.7 per cent higher than they were for the same period last year.  New listings are up 13.3 per cent from the same period last year.  This comes off a slow November by comparison, though there were some very strong months this year.  The big numbers are the fact real estate sales rose 2.7 per cent and there are 13.3 per cent more properties on the market. What does this mean?     The simple answer is: you make money investing in real estate.  The average price for a residential property in November was $331,865, which is a decrease of less than 1 per cent compared to last November.  Overall sales are up and the values have held strong, and in some areas they have risen.  The president of the Realtors Association of Hamilton Burlington, Joe Ferrante,  said it best: “Our listing numbers are not record-breaking, but they are high, especially for this time of year. There are lots of properties on the market right now; if anyone had any thoughts about purchasing a home, now would be an excellent time to do it.”     We had a brutal year and a half in the overall economy and the real estate market not only held strong, it showed increases.  The market presently has more homes for sale, which gives the buyers more leverage so they can usually negotiate a better price.  A fair price, a market that has weathered the storm and increase in values all point to the fact that real estate is the best place to invest your money.     A prospective client of mine just inherited a good sum of money and is contemplating how to invest this money.  Of course I’ve told him to invest in real estate, by either buying investment properties or better yet, lend out the money at 5 to 10 per cent on first or second mortgages.  He spoke with his lawyer and the lawyer agreed. The client then spoke with a financial advisor and they are pushing him towards bonds, retirement investments, and similar products. The real estate deals would earn twice as much as the bonds, but since the financial advisor has this advisor title he is encouraging him to make these types of investments. The problem is that the advisor will only get paid if he sells him some type of investments, and will not get paid on a real estate transaction.      Looking forward into 2011, one should be excited that the real estate market is going strong and with a 13.3 per cent higher number of properties a deal is out there waiting to be had! Real estate will always weather a storm in the market and it not only weathered 2010 – it grew.  Look at the numbers and invest in real estate: it is that simple!  V                       Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.